LA punk history spews from X co-founder John Doe! INTERVIEW
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- čas přidán 20. 05. 2016
- Today's Guest: John Doe, singer, X, author, Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk
Order John Doe’s book: amzn.to/1OFTJk7
JOHN DOE podcast excerpt: “X - our music - was always accessible. We weren’t trying to piss people off; we just did it naturally. There was no ‘marketing’; the term barely existed. The way you were DIY in those days was you went out, met people, lived your life, did your thing. I have no regrets; that’s the way you get cancer."
Key interview moments:
• 4:14 After appearing on NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross, who described X’s melodies as “being a little off” and that its notes “become flat in unusual places,” X co-founder John Doe shakes off the “backhanded compliment” and explains Exene Cervenka’s approach;
• 20:00 Doe compares the nascent 1970s punk scenes in New York, London, and Los Angeles;
• 37:30 It wasn’t that X didn’t want to be successful and commercial, Doe explains, it’s just the band didn’t fit well in its era the way Nirvana, Pearl Jame and Green Day would later fit in theirs.
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3:44 John Doe is allowed to talk,you're welcome
FUUUUUCK. I was about to turn it off because of this faux NPR bullshit announcer
X and The Gun Club were my favorites...
Not enough love for Gun Club out there. Fire of Love and Miami should be in every music lover’s collection
"Everyone has their own truth". I've heard a few people say that, and they're all wrong. You can have your own reality, but there's only one truth.
First saw X for the first time in 1980 at the Whisky in Hollywood and many, many more times after that. Got to meet John at a book signing/meet and greet/Q&A at the Los Angeles Public Library when his book came out. He is, as I always knew he'd be, one of the nicest and most personable people you'd ever hope to meet. Really a top guy.
Exene was particularly "on" that night ! Enough said !!! No one gave me chills like she (and this band) did in 79-80...THEY STILL DO ! How much of a fan was I ? I had an X shaved in the back of my head at 13 or 14 in about 1980. Ahhhh those were the days !
Aw man, were you that X-Head kid from The Decline And Fall Of Western Civilization once upon a time?✌🏼
Johns a cool cat, met him at the Casbah in SD as he was walking in to get ready for an X show and he took the time to stop and just say hello
John Doe. John EFFING Doe. Wonderful bass player and vocalist. That's all I got.
Andrew Cassey who is he ?
I am he. And I'm not shy; I'll walk right up to you and look you in the eye and tell you who I am. Because I lead an honest life, one that God might approve of, even amidst all of my sins and faults. That said, who may I have the pleasure of having been addressed so adroitly?
That's all we need.
When I describe X's vocal harmonies to someone who has no idea of the band I describe them as the sound of "two cats mating on a hot tin roof"... and I mean that in the most reverent complimentary way I can!!!
Stiglr Yes, yes.
X still sounds a punchy, harmonic and fresh today as they did in 1980 when I first heard them here in the UK.
Billy Zoom is the White Chuck Berry.
X is the only Punk band that hasn't become a parody of itself over time. But honestly, X was never solely a punk band. They were always so much more.
You're absolutely right, it's difficult to categorize music or bands under a specific genre. Nor is there a clear unifying consenus, this varies when and where a person is giving a position on it. Music and sounds overlap all the time.
I love this because it really illustrates that part of the fanspace-mind that where we think that we own our artists. I love all these guys so much. I tried for years to make a point of seeing X on every trip they made to Boston. I just wanted them to know how much we appreciated them. Here's something: I was listening to Double Nickels for a year before I even knew D. Boon was gone. Learning he was gone made me cry. I mean I had kinda-sorta heard of the Minutemen. Had heard the reference in I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts...knew the tunes If Reagan Played Disco and Party With Me Punker...had heard the strains of Corona once or twice but, they were gone before I had any solid appreciation for how Watt-Boon-Hurley would have changed EVERYTHING if he had been allowed to hang on the scene. Like PJ Harvey says in a very different context: "cruel cruel nature has won again". Reminds me of when my daughter was grooving to Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros' "Streetcore" six months after Joe had passed from this world to the big world beat stage in the sky. I'm from BOSTON! The Bean! The Hub! We had fucking Mission of Burma and the Proletariat. Like Neil Young says: "long may you run" all of you crazy punkers
I saw X twice as a young adult in the early 80's. I still go back to their songs 30 years later, a very under-appreciated group of musicians and poets. Exene and her collection of bible pamphlets. I wonder if she still has them...
John is great! I love the harmony of X it is very identifiable and distinct.
X always X. Thank Fucking GOD! John and Exene are the real deal. Sooo glad that I got backstage a few times at SLIMS SF
if any band deserves the r&r hall of fame X does
Having come up in that time and place, nothing makes me feel older than having an interviewer muck through contextual questions to "explain" that time and place.
You and me both my friend. Peace.
Yes.
One of our greatest American artists. A treasure. Love always.
Good lord I just adore this man..
OMG - LOVE!!! Best part is watching you listen to the prelude........ . Love.
Was lucky enough to see X back in 1984 in NYC, they had Jason and the Scorchers open for them. Dave Alvin came out for the encore. Was a great show: raw, wild, fast and loud.
X FEAR and the Crowd DEc 1979 at the whiskey agogo 5 buck admission, what a gig!
HELL YA!!! Lee Ving was bomb! LOL
Best Real Estate Hey,all you swilling the cheap shit in back,come down front where I can see ya.
I've always like John Doe & the band. The interviewer guy should have mentioned that Exene was born in Chicago & was primarily raised in Tallahassee, not St. Pete's. When she left FL she relocated in Santa Monica.
Good interview. John Doe is the coolest cat ever. His book was great. I loved the anecdotal format of different people offering their stories and viewpoints.
I met John too- what a nice guy. I admire him.
X is great music.
I once was up late one night.... I caught the movie Roadside prophet.... Thank you for that movie.
thanks for the reply...I always think if I knew what I know now when I was younger , but I wouldn't change a thing. some very fond memoties
“Marshal Earp! Give me a gun! For God’s sake, let me protect myself”- Tommy behind the deuce AKA John Doe
X Great show last night in santa cruz!
i was there too! -- really dug the new arrangements and the chill mini-set with dj bonebrake on vibes - cheers!
I really think White Girl and The Have Nots are the best songs I never heard. I am so grateful for the music and intelligence of X.
Enjoyed this immensely.
Check out the YT of X live at the Rock Garden in 2019. Sounds like 1982. Unbelievable.
One of the best bands from SoCal ever!
Jane Weiland was on a reality show on VH1 where she pretty much spilled the beans back then.
?
Wow. John Doe has held up well over the years. He looks super healthy and he sounds as sharp and astute as ever. Not a feat often pulled off by ex punk rockers.
I appreciate hearing JD talk about his book and the early punk scene in L.A. Knowing, from hearing at least one other interview that Terry Gross did with JD, that she's obviously a fan both of JD's solo music and of X's music, I was skeptical that she'd in any way diss either Exene's singing or X's unique harmonies. You, Mr. Media, imply in this interview that she did. So I listened to the Fresh Air episode to which you refer, and all I heard was deep respect and gratitude on her part toward their music and their place in musical history. Exene, at one point, says that the way they sing together originated in her total lack of singing experience before X; actually, she says it's because she "can't sing." JD and Dave A object vocally to this contention. At no point does Terry Gross denigrate the singing. Obviously, she loves and respects their music.
Hi Richard. Thanks for taking the time to watch this interview. I did hear Terry Gross a little differently as I recall. I didn't think she was disrespectful, just a little unfamiliar when she made a comment about the band's harmonies.
Exenes off key singing was stylistically right. Anyone who knows music history knows that with Schonberg realization other harmonic tools were necessary to speak in now terms.NrwYorkDolls,Nico Siouxsie,Gang of 4 everyintelligent band of the 70s got this. the
The book is spot on. And it's follow up. It was an amazing time in LA in the 80's. Early 80's...
Good review. Thanks John.
So many great songs
To change the late 70s LA punk scene, is to define the direction of music to come, is to overturn stale culture, is to change the world.
Punk, in spite of so many artists gaining accolades and awards and such, is still criminally underrated as some footnote of angsty losers who never grew up on time...
When the reality is that punk is so profoundly influential that all the massive shifts it's made to society are actually just so big that you have to be very attentive to even see it
...much like if a coach bus made a rest stop at dawn in a park, most folks might notice the strange rock formation by the road, and only a minority would actually realize it's a mountain...
I like John's acting. He was great in Roadhouse and Great Balls of Fire.
He was also great in Pure Country.
john is so intelligent and articulate in his point of view, diplomatic and humble as usual... punk rock's nobleman-extrordinaire !!
Careful, kid. Don't hurt yerself ...
Hey Raymond, shut up moron. lol
Swear people think if a person can put a sentence together they're a genius these days
Why did the chicken cross the road? He was safety-pinned to a punk rocker. I like Jane; I spent one of her B-day nights with her, I thought she was nice. John describes our young life quite well.
Haha love the joke
I carried his base into the basement of a college residence hall for a show end 1979/early 1980, before Los Angeles the album came out. 100 people, maybe.
I must not think bad thoughts is one of the best songs of all time.
Seems like a cool guy... his book is really a really good read...
If he would ever do a signing on IG live of his book I would buy that shit in a heart beat
John is smart AND hot! 🔥❤️🔥🔥
Good lord the long winded host is just unlistenable. I give up.
Dear John.
I'm giving up cuz the host just rattles on too for long.
I love X and worked for them on the '83 US tour. John and I are probobly the only 2 people related to the band who are massive USWNT fans...Oh Wait..He's stopped and John is speaking.
So the take away is that Christine has no respect for the medical profession. Is that correct?
HEY JOHN
What happened in San Antonio?
the guy from the movie roadhouse
John looks like Val Kilmer.
I was 21 in 77 and the new music and look and feeling was so new and fun and I think im stuck in a time warp .it seems like yesterday. the mask, starwood, madam wongs .cuckoos nest
same here--21 in '77 hung out at the Masque knew most of these people and still talk to some of them on facebook I feel lucky that I was there
...H/C musically dumbed Punk DOWN..."Thrash" & "Cross-Over" were fine for
Metal-Heds...but the 1st generation punk bands seemed to have a separate mission...
Sum have said, and rightfully so, that punk was ACTUALLY a revival of POP music...
the emphasis on SINGLES...a RETURN to small-labels...SHORT songs..etc...but the ORIGINAL
sceneS were far more INTERESTING for MY moo-la...NYC had the Voidoids, Television, Suicide
...L.A. & HollyWEIRD had the Screamers, Geza X, Black-Randy, & X...between '77 and '79, a MERE
TWO YEARS, all sorts of UNIQUE IDEAS had manifested from the initial movement...the UK SCENE
had Dexy's Midnight Runners...Madness & the Specials...Essential Logic, Soft Boys and the Homosexuals...
Personally Eye PREFER UNIQUEness to UNIFORMITY!
X is the fucking shit
wow, exene was from st. petersburg, FL, never knew, haha.....f
I knew her, not a pleasant person and pure Florida I assure you, LOL
met john and exene before a concert here in houston a few years back. they stopped and talked with me and my wife and were very sociable. btw, i'm from florida. don't judge all of us the same.....f
yeah well I knew them when we were all 20-21 years old, saw their first gig (it was at a party in someone's living room) she was a bitch then, and a political crackpot now, but hey, I am a chick, she was always nice to guys, LOL I would hope that she has matured and mellowed in 40 years.
Well The Doors DO sound pretty DATED actually!
Ian Findly how do you mean that?
@@gregv8690 I mean the old RECORDINGS sound very mid 60s. Nothing really WRONG with THAT anyway though.
Punk-a-billy.
Argh...You can just see the internal cringe going on in John's head as he listens to this interviewer. It's not really obvious, but it's there. Hard to sit through.
DUDE, get on with the interview. I would have turned you off unless I really wanted to hear the interview.... IF IT EVER Happens!!
He seems rather bitter about hardocre, which somewhat surprises me. The first generation -- i.e. before the racists and the skinheads got into it -- was the ultimate DIY scene, and I would have thought he would have appreciated that more.
It's a small quibble. X is one of my favorite bands of all time.
worst and most tense interviewer ever holy hell I think he's going to pee his pants oh my God
Sex Pistols, The Clash and........Madness??? Madness?!! Really?!
the interviewer talks too much.....
Worst. Interviewer. Ever. You make John Doe sit and stare into his computer while you read bullshit for 3 minutes. Ugh. Have more respect for your guests. Have more respect for your audience. This is why editing was invented.
Worst interview ever.
I can't listen to this guy Andelman...I'm out....much better interviewing / showcasing elsewhere...